Could you avoid this crash?
Sometimes it’s difficult to decide if skill or luck is on our side when we do things. Playing sports is a good example. My son has scored goals during hockey games because he happened to be in the right place at the right time. One goal even bounced off his facemask into the net. Those were examples of good events, but what about bad events?
The young man in this video did an amazing job to survive a sure death experience. He learned to drive at Young Drivers of Canada in 2002 and was taught many skills that he used here. We teach drivers to look ahead to anticipate and spot problems well ahead of time. It’s a proactive way of driving versus a reactive style. We also teach drivers to think; and that’s exactly what he did here.
Spotting problems is one thing, but being able to do something about it is another. Notice how the young driver, Matt Krizsan, reduced speed before the truck entered his lane, which allowed him to have space to his immediate right. Using that space allowed him and his passengers to escape this extremely risky situation with ease. How would you have responded? Would you have responded just as well?
Most drivers tend to have a ‘target fixation’ when it comes to danger. They look at the problem and drive straight toward it. You’ll tend to go where you’re looking, so look where you want to go. If you’re trained to think differently, you’re improving your chance of survival.
Trusting other drivers to do the right thing doesn’t always work either. You need to prepare in advance for any driving emergency. Matt looked well ahead and responded proactively by slowing and by swerving. Why wait until the problem is coming right at you in your lane before you do something about it? By responding early, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain; including years to your life. Matt Krizsan proved that proper driver training, life training, can protect you for years to come.
TY, Safe Driver, 4 a helpful Post! U hav GRRRRRRRRR8 safety tips!! Keep up the awesum job!!! (The video clip WAS unreal… U taught the driver w/ the cam well 2 avoid crashes!)
I’d say a bit of both, skill in his forward observation and steering ability, luck that nothing was in the right lane, so he could fit in on his quick lane change.
I’ve had some pretty close calls myself, and I’ve witnessed an eerily similar semi crash laat winter. In that case, the semi stayed on its side, but it broke a 500lb piece of concrete ftom the median. Luckily drivers avoided it until police arrived to block it off.